Sideways Smile
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. AU. Quick fic. Just a short meeting of a man and a waitress one early morning. COMPLETE.


**Don't own a thing. **

Angel was grumbling as he waited in traffic. He hadn't been having the best morning and he still had a long day before him. Not to mention he was tired, had a headache, and he was starving.

Not wanting to bother with cooking this morning, he had decided he'd just go grab something from his favorite diner across town... though it wasn't looking too good for him once he got out on the road. Between a few car accidents and construction going on, it was ending up a bigger mess than what he wanted to deal with.

Once he was closer to the stoplight he'd been stuck at, Angel glanced around. He spotted a big sign that was advertising Hawaiian Pancakes and 24-hour breakfast so he gave the large building a one-over before deciding he would just go there before work.

OoOoO

Angel pulled into the parking lot and grabbed his phone off of its charger and headed inside.

The place was decently crowded but he didn't have a wait to get a table, a dark-haired man had just about met him when he stepped inside from the lobby type area. The man checked if it were just one at his party then grabbed a menu up from a small stand and led him to a half table. After asking if it were alright, the man told him his waitress, Buffy, would be with him shortly and to have a nice meal.

Angel had thanked him and watched the man walk back around the corner as he slid into the booth section of the table.

Angel looked around his surroundings. He was at a half table, half booth. The booth curved in a line and would seat three parties. He was at the middle table. The two on either side, at a good distance down from him too, were green with blue and yellow designs on it. His was dark brown. The tables each had two chairs angled at the sides. The booth had a nice white color for the seat then the backing were in brown and blue. The place looked neat and was quiet for the crowd. He smirked as he read one of the canvas' on the wall: "Men, Chocolate and Coffee are all better rich."

Finally, Angel slid his menu a little closer to him and turned it onto the back-side to see if the drink menu was back there. Which it was. He had barely glanced through it when he heard a soft voice from the side.

"Hi, there. How are you doing this morning?"

Angel lifted his head and felt his throat closing up at the sight of the owner of such voice. "F...fine," he managed to choke out after a moment of oogling her. "A..and you?"

She smiled. "I'm doing just fine. You have an idea on what you might like to drink this morning? Some coffee or some lemonade perhaps?"

Angel's eyes lingered on her lips, watching as she lightly chewed some blue gum. His ind blanked on what he'd decided to get moments before so looked back down. "Uhh... how about some raspberry tea?"

"Alrighty," she said, writing that down on her small notepad. "You know what you'd like to order, or do you still need a few more minutes?"

"Huh?" he stated, again finding himself staring at the girl. "Uh, no, still looking."

"Alright. Though if you'd like a suggestion..." she said, coming closer. Angel could smell her vanilla perfume, and a hint of the cotton candy bubblegum he would give anything in the world to be right about then. The girl flipped a few pages on his menu. "We have this VIB, Very Important Breakfast, deal here. It's kind of a mix and match to customize your own meal type of thing. You can choose any four of these items, or do these supreme ones for forty-nine cents extra each. It's kind of nifty." She began straightening up. "But you look everything over and I will go get you that tea."

Angel watched as the perky blonde walked away. He inwardly groaned at the small shorts she had on, the tan legs coming from them. She wasn't tall, yet seemed to have legs that went on for miles as the same.

'For Christ' sakes,' Angel's mind kicked in. "Get ahold of yourself.' Angel shook his head, wondering why of all the women in this world some young waitress was having hi ake a puddle of drool at her feet.

Angel grabbed back at the menu and began looking it over.

OoOoO

"One raspberry tea," Buffy had announced upon her return just a few minutes later. Angel found himself sucking in his breath as she leaned closer to slide the large glass beside him. "You know what you want, or do you still need some time to decide?"

Angel fought the urge to ask if he could order her, with some whipped cream and a cherry on top. Instead, he went with her suggestion of this VIB combo and gave her the details of what he wanted, then asked for a few extra sides.

The blonde wrote everything down then went back over it to make sure she had it right and then told him she'd go put it in for him. He handed her the menu back and she turned back away from him. Along the way, he watched her sop off at another table to check on how things were going over there.

Angel checked his phone, read and responded to a text messages and was about to stand to go use the restroom when the current object of his desire returned.

"Oh, hey, sorry," she began. "It's my first day," she told him. "I forgot to ask you how you wanted your eggs when I was over here. Sorry!"

Angel smiled at her. "That's more than fine. Over medium."

She returned his smile, and looked a little relieved. He thought it was cute to see her slightly flustered. "Alright, I will let 'em know. Anything else I can get for you? You need some ketchup or hot sauce or anything?"

He looked down at the small tray basket already on the table. It seemed to have anything he thought he might need. "No, I'm good right now."

"Alright. I'll get your order out to you soon."

OoOoO

Angel used the facilities then returned to his seat. He could partially see the front desk from where he sat, so he had watched a few people come in, and a few people head up there to pay their ticket before leaving. He smiled as he eavesdropped on a group of older women he'd seen Buffy fluttered about a few times. They were telling the man up front how great of a job the cute blonde had done for them.

Angel watched her round her other tables, and another two waitress' he'd seen going about as well.

It wasn't too long though before she came out with a large tray with his order on it. He was afraid it looked bigger than she was.

Sitting the tray down on a fold out sling, she began putting the plates down. "Here are your eggs and bacon," she said, sliding a plate before him. "Your hashbrowns, your french toast... and here is some syrup for those. Here's your side of biscuits and gravy, and your toast. And some extra butter and jelly if you need it."

"Thank you," he told her.

"Mmhmm. Anything else I can get your right now? Do you need your tea refilled?"

He looked over. "That'd be great."

"Alright." She grabbed the almost empty glass and took off. When she returned he had a new cup full. "Here you are. Enjoy."

OoOoO

Angel usually hated overly attentive waitress' but found himself wishing this Buffy girl was one of them. Instead, she would come fluttering by every once in awhile to check on him.

When he decided it wasn't enough to see her in those brief instances, he found himself ordering more and more side dishes. That way he had more time to look at her, speak to her. Both as she took the orders down then when she brought them back.

OoOoO

Angel had been pleasantly surprised by the food, but he was full. Way beyond full. And he had a crowd of plates still around him. He shook his head, muttering to himself.

"Everything still going alright over here?"

"Yeah. Everything's been great. Do you think I could get some to-go boxes for the rest of this?" he asked.

"Sure. Do you think you might want some pie to take with you too?" she asked. She reached around the table to grab a small flip stand. "If you are... here's the selection. I'll go get you those boxes."

Angel pulled the stand closer and began flipping through the choices. When she came back, he ordered two slices, to go, of some country apple. He was sure if she suggested to by everything off of the menu, he probably would.

She ran off to get those and brought them back. She also brought his check and told him he could pay up front when he was ready. She looked over the large amount of boxes he was still putting left overs into and asked if he'd like a bag or two to put them in. He chuckled and said that'd be great so she got those for him as well.

"Here you are," she said a minute later.

Angel took the bags from her and began loading up his many left-overs. He couldn't believe how badly he didn't want to leave, just so he could stay and stalk some poor waitress girl who probably thought he was nuts.

OoOoO

"How was everything for you today?" Angel was asked as he stepped up to the front desk.

He told hi everything was perfect, he'd had a lovely meal.

"Glad to hear it," he responded with a smile, ringing him up.

Angel left a very generous tip for the girl and then forced himself to start heading for the door.

OoOoO

Angel smiled as he heard her voice as he put the bags into his backseat. He turned to see her lightly jogging toward him.

"You forgot your phone," she told him, holding it out.

He had very much not forgotten it. Angel smiled, taking it from her small hands. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she told him, then the two stared at one another for a long moment. "I should be getting back inside. Have a good day," she told him, turning away.

Angel swallowed before calling back out to her. She turned. "What time do you get off tonight?"

"Why would you want to know that?"

He shrugged, leaning against his car. "Curious."

"You're curious about how long I work until?"

Again, he shrugged. "I thought maybe you might want to do something afterward. Or tomorrow. Or another day."

She tried to hide a small smile. "I don't know anything about you."

He crossed one foot over the other. "My name is Angel, I work in real estate. I'm thirty-two and pretty well mannered. And I'm going to be thinking about you the rest of my day."

She blushed. "I work until six tonight," she finally said. "And my number's in your phone in case something comes up," she added with a wink. "See ya later, Angel."

**The End.**


End file.
